Monday, August 23, 2010

I love my kids. I don't think anyone would disagree with that. I love them more than anything. They're the most important people in my life. But when August rolls around, they need to GET OUT OF THE HOUSE! My home is in a constant state of disarray (that's a nice way of saying that it looks like the aftermath of an F5 tornado). And the fighting! Ohmygosh, the fighting! They're at each other's throats all day long. I finally locked them outside told them to go outside and kill each other play so I wouldn't have to clean the blood off the carpet hear them anymore. That was all fine and dandy until I realized they'd flooded the yard with the garden hose. I apologize to my neighbors for the river running through your backyard. Hey, look at it this way, you just had your lawn watered without an increase to your water bill. Yay! Sorry (looking down apologetically). I couldn't even get mad at them for flooding the backyard because I'd told them to go outside and play and well, they were playing outside. I didn't specifically tell them not to turn the neighbor's lawn into in a marsh.

After I kicked Jackson outside because of his belligerent mouth, he decided to make a ramp out of scraps of wood. He used his scooter to go up and down these ramps. Here's an old video of him doing something similar.

Now, I love my sons, don't get me wrong. But really? Really??? Boys come up with the dumbest ideas! And not only do they think of stupid things to do, but they don't learn from them! They don't say, "Hmmm, that was a bad idea. I won't do that again." Nope. Instead, they think, "Hmmm, how can I make it more dangerous the next time?" There's always a "next time" with boys. Meanwhile, my daughters and their friends look on in amazement. They're not amazed that my son has managed some fantastic feat, oh no. They're amazed at how seemingly stupid the boys are.

What is it about the male brain? Do they have no concept of danger? Do they just not realize that they're most likely going to be injured? Or do they just not care because any amount of injury or punishment is worth the momentary thrill of flying through the air? I will seriously never understand the male brain. I guess I'll just have to thank them for keeping us females entertained and dumbfounded at the extent of their ummm, daring.

And, in the meantime, there are thirty-two hours and twelve minutes until my house can be cleaned and stay clean for more than twenty seconds, and the kids have some structure back in their lives! Not that I'm counting or anything.

Dawn, with 4 young sons in the house, I am constantly dumbfounded by what they come up with! School started Aug 12th here and things are much calmer (and the house much cleaner!) since that day. Hang in there...only a few days left!

I don't understand boys, either! My son yelled "ouch" today, so I asked him what happened. He proceeded to SHOW me what he had done, resulting in him getting hurt again! Why? You'd think that if you felt pain once, you wouldn't go through the trouble of inflicting it on yourself again.

I have a wheelchair ramp on my house. For some reason, every boy in the neighborhood thinks it's the spiffiest thing to come to my house and ride their scooters up and down my wheelchair ramp. I don't get it.

I don't have kids of my own, but my roommates have a 14 year old daughter who lives with us, and I was pretty ready for her to go back yesterday as well.

As to boys not learning from their previous mistakes, that doesn't change until they are well over 18. My oldest nephew, when he was 16, got caught trying to pull of a prank involving a port-a-pot. He got a lecture from the police (along with his group of buddies) and had to return the potty to the construction site from which they'd "borrowed" it (with permission of the site contractor). 3 years later, when he saw his kid brother driving down the road with another one in the back of the same pickup truck, at 19, he did NOT say "Dude! BAD idea, don't you remember what happened to me??" Nope, he went along for the ride & helped to pull off the prank! They were among the 3 or 4 who accomplished their part before the police arrived, but they were ratted out and still had to suffer the consequences...

Boys..never a dull moment as you are right. They really do entertain us :)The video of Jax cracks me up!I would vote for it on Funniest Videos.

And when my kids were young I hated the last week before school started as it was non stop fighting and also with the neighbor kids.... I counted down every second until school started. I don't count that on the 'Good O Days' either.... LOL

If you've ever watched American's Funny Home Video...you will notice that 95% of the really stupid(dangerous) stuff is being attemtpted by the male species. And they usually start by saying "hey, watch this" and that is because they are in a group just making a bad idea worse. Having 3 boys, I know exactly what I'm talking about.

"What is it about the male brain?"My sister has a theory.There's only one.Male brain.And when they do something noteworthy, like propose to Miss Absolutely-So-Right-That-Your-Mother-Would-Even-Like-Her, they have possession of "the brain."Or when they understand that you need hear nothing back when you're ranting and raving about work other than "You were right, and no, you're not over-reacting," they have possession.Or when they really truly don't try to fix a situation, and they just simply say, "I understand. And no, you aren't over-reacting," they have possession.(Note to reader: These three basic scenarios can cover almost any specific male-related scenario imagineable.)

I used to dislike that our school went back the 2nd or 3rd week of August, because I just thought we needed summer to last a little longer. Now I am thinking, thank God that they went back on the 16th and I am not in Dawn's shoes wishing they were back already. Bless you, I am sure Thursday cannot come soon enough!!!

I am totally with you on this one!I change my mind every five minutes about whether or not I want my three to go back to school. At the moment, they're all playing quietly and not making any messes, so I am in the "No School" camp. 10 minutes from now, when they're beating the snot out of each other, I'm sure I'll start counting down the hours! They go back on the 30th.

Oh I hear you about the boys! I have 4 boys and believe me, what one does not think of, the other one will. The fighting is bad, but sometimes I think it is worse when they are getting along! Worse for the total destruction factor, I mean. My oldest is 12 hours away in college for the first time and I am ready to bawl my eyes out. I am really trying hard to appreciate what the 2 and 4 year old are doing today. BTW-they do make ramps for scooters and bikes that are SOMEWHAT safer than the homemade versions - don't ask how I know this.

Like everybody said, it's a boy thing. I have two kids, one boy and one girl.....I tell everybody if my son had been born first, there never would have been a second child. That son of mine does not have possession of his brain most of the time. I hope he develops it by the time he graduates high school, which is about 10 yrs. from now.